Isolation Gown

ABSTRACT

An isolation gown has enhanced neck and thorax coverage of gown material. Also, to improve the durability of the gown, improved waist ties are integral in the web that are engineered so that they will not tear as easily as conventional waist ties. The head hole cutout of garments includes a flap and/or neck shield that is internal to a basic geometric cutout. In the conventional examples of a uniform circle or oval head shape cutout, the present gown web includes a flap of material, as a portion of the neck die cutout, that extends into the area inside that circle or inside that oval shape. This flap or neck shield provides an additional barrier area to the neck and upper thoracic regions of the user.

The present application claims the benefit of filing of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/081,376, filed Sep. 22, 2020, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

The present invention is directed to a disposable isolation gown having in one example a pullover head opening. The gown has improved user neck coverage. Additionally, in another example, a rugged back tie is die cut from the lower portion of the gown.

BACKGROUND

Disposable isolation gowns have become more in demand as healthcare requires their more frequent use in dealing with contagious diseases. The purpose of the gown is for it to serve as a barrier to protect persons including caregivers from exposure to deleterious microbes such as bacteria and viruses. Therefore, maximum effectiveness demands that the gown covers as much of a user facing the patient or source as reasonably possible.

The maximum coverage of an isolation gown must be balanced with the comfort of the user of the gown. The gown is preferably not too heavy or too hot on a user and can be made from materials that “breathe” water vapor to make the user more comfortable. Also, because of the disposable nature of the gown, it is preferred that there must not be so much raw material that forms the gown as to be expensive for frequent disposal.

The result of the foregoing considerations is a common gown formed of a single sheet. The sheet includes portions adapted for overlapping to form arm sleeves and also a pair of integral tie straps. There is included a round or oval head opening that allows the gown to slip over the head of the user. Because a person's head is larger in diameter than their neck, there is exposure around the neck and upper thorax as a result of the pullover opening. This condition also exists on current three-piece gowns where the sleeves are attached. The result can be seen in FIG. 5 where a caregiver is shown in a prior art gown with a conventional round hole that exposes her neck and upper thorax.

SUMMARY

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to overcome the foregoing shortcomings in existing gowns by providing gowns with enhanced neck and thorax coverage of gown material. Also, to improve the durability of the gown, improved waist ties are integral in the web that are engineered so that they will not tear as easily as conventional waist ties.

In one example, an isolation gown comprises a web of fabric material that includes arm portions, a front apron portion and a head hole cutout; wherein the head hole cutout has a generally circular or oval perimeter shape, and the head hole cutout further includes an integral flap that extends inwardly of a hypothetical uniform circular or oval shape as defined by the head hole cutout perimeter other than the flap. The shape of the flap may be curved or semicircular or rectangular or asymmetric. The area size of the flap may be from 5-80%, or alternatively from 10-50%, or still further alternatively from 20-40% of the otherwise open circular or oval shape of the head hole cutout. The flap may extend into an open area of the neck hole cutout from one-half to five inches from the hypothetical uniform circular or oval shape of the head hole cutout.

In another example, an isolation gown comprises a web of fabric material that includes arm portions, a front apron portion and a head hole cutout. The head hole cutout has a generally circular or oval perimeter shape, and a hypothetical uniform circular or oval shape as defined by the head hole cutout perimeter, wherein the head hole cutout has an integral cuff around at least a portion of an inside perimeter of a hypothetical head hole cutout having a circular or oval shape. The cuff is a supplemental fringe of web material that has a plurality of notches at spaces around the head hole cutout perimeter and that are approximately perpendicular to the perimeter. The cuff may be one-quarter to four inches in width inside the perimeter of the hypothetical head hole cutout. The hypothetical head hole cutout may have a maximum length of twelve inches and width of ten inches, or alternatively, a maximum length of ten inches and width of five inches. The notches may be spaced apart around the perimeter of the head hole cutout perimeter every one to five inches. The head hole cutout may further include an integral flap that extends inwardly of the hypothetical uniform circular or oval shape as defined by the head hole cutout perimeter other than the flap.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top view of a web cutout for an example of an isolation gown.

FIG. 2 is a top view of a web cutout for a second example of an isolation gown.

FIG. 3 is a top view of a web cutout for a third example of an isolation gown.

FIG. 4 is a top view of a web cutout for a fourth example of an isolation gown.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a person wearing a prior art isolation gown.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a person wearing an isolation gown as discussed herein.

FIG. 7 is a top view of an example of an isolation gown head hole cutout as described herein.

FIG. 8 is a top view of a second example of an isolation gown head hole cutout as described herein.

FIG. 9 is a top view of a third example of an isolation gown head hole cutout as described herein.

FIG. 10 is a top view of a fourth example of an isolation gown head hole cutout as described herein.

FIG. 11 is a top view of a fifth example of an isolation gown head hole cutout as described herein.

FIG. 12 is a top view of a sixth example of an isolation gown head hole cutout as described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The isolation gown described in one example herein is a single sheet of web material having a pullover opening or a tie opening for a user's head and a web around that opening. Also, the single web has waist tie straps integral with the web and cut into the web.

The web may be any type of fabric material. The web may be knitted, woven, nonwoven or a plastic sheet, each of which may be coated or noncoated. The webs may have different degrees of barrier properties including porous and breathable materials for some applications. Alternatively, in a healthcare setting, it is typically desirable to have a heightened degree of liquid impermeability from some limited degree of permeability down to essentially completely impermeable.

In one example, the web includes a nonwoven fabric that has antimicrobial and/or anti-viral agents coated onto it. For the purposes of this discussion, antimicrobial includes, but is not limited to, antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal. Alternatively, an antimicrobial/antiviral agent may be mixed into the barrier coating or fiber polymers themselves that make up the nonwoven material. A primary example is the treatment of an existing fabric having known permeability appropriate for an intended use. Intended uses for this nonwoven fabric include, but are not limited to, as a wearable garment as described herein.

Importantly, the antimicrobial and antiviral additive must not materially reduce the fluid impermeability and vapor permeability performance characteristics of the fabric. At the very least, a coating must reduce those characteristics an acceptable amount. Qualitatively speaking, the liquid coating must be very thin, and the particle coating must include small particles.

The coated fabrics may be widely used for purposes of isolation from microbial hazards. The sheets of fabric may be used in a conventional way to make the garments described herein. The coated fabric sheets may be cut and sonically welded, or heat sealed or impulse sealed to form a garment. In this example, the antimicrobial and antiviral must be chosen so that it does not reduce the ability of that fabric web to be sonic welded or heat sealed. The very thin antimicrobial coating does not interfere with downstream processing, nor does the internal mineral content of the coatings diminish the heat seal properties of the fabric alone or an already extrusion coated nonwoven base web.

Examples of the shape of the single web sheet of material are shown in the attached drawings. The web is a single sheet of material. The arm sections fold over onto each other and are welded or glued or sewn together to form sleeves. Small holes at the ends of the sleeves are thumb holes for a user to put their thumbs through. (In use, the user puts their thumbs through the holes and then puts on latex gloves over the sleeves that stay under the gloves because of the use of the thumb holes.) In the center of the web, there is a cutout for the user to push their head into the open and pull over their head so that the opening ends up being the neckline of the gown. The lower portion of the web is the skirt of the gown. Slits are cut into each side of the gown skirt to form ties so that the gown may be tied around the waist of the user.

The head hole cutout of garments of the present invention includes a flap and/or neck shield that is internal to a basic geometric cutout. In the conventional examples of a uniform circle or oval head shape cutouts, which have lengths and widths of about 3 to 10 inches in width by about 6-12 inches in length, the present gown web includes a flap of material, as a portion of the neck die cutout, that extends into the area inside that hypothetical uniform circle or inside that hypothetical uniform oval shape. This flap or neck shield provides an additional barrier area to the neck and upper thoracic regions of the user. This flap may result in a kidney shape modification of an otherwise oval shape, as shown in the drawings. The flap may be a curved or semicircular and extending into a larger circle or oval shape. The flap may be rectangular or asymmetric. The size of the flap, in terms of its cross-sectional area, may be as low as 5% of the otherwise open hypothetical geometric shape of head cutout. The cutout could be as much as 80% of the larger open, ordinary cutout area. The size may be anywhere in between this range of 5-80%, or alternatively 10-50% or 20-30%. From the hypothetical imaginary line of a regular oval or circle, the flap may extend upwardly into the open circular/oval space from one-half to five inches, or about 1-3 inches. Examples of alternative size and shape flaps/neck shields are shown in FIGS. 1-4 and 7-10 which illustrate possible alternative neck hole cutout portions of a gown. FIGS. 1-4 show a curved, semicircular or oval shape. FIG. 7 illustrates a generally trapezoidal shape flap/neck shield. FIGS. 8 and 9 illustrate relatively shorter and taller rectangular flap/neck shield cutouts respectively. FIG. 10 illustrates a triangular shape flap/neck shield.

FIG. 6 illustrates a gown made from a cutout as shown for instance in FIGS. 1 and 2 on a person with the neck shield clearly providing more frontal thoracic and neck coverage for the user.

Another possible modification of a gown web cutout is a cuff around the perimeter of the head hole cutout of the isolation gown. (See FIGS. 3 and 4). The cuff is an additional fringe of the barrier web material inside the perimeter of the hypothetical standard head hole cutout. The cuff is notched at spaces around the perimeter approximately perpendicular to the perimeter (within 30 degrees of perpendicular, or alternatively 15 degrees of perpendicular). A user pulls the gown over their head, and the cuff tears along the notches to create cuff segments. These cuff segments form additional coverage to the user's neck and thorax areas.

The cuff may be one-half inch to three inches or one-quarter to four inches in width inside the perimeter of the hypothetical regular head opening cutout. FIGS. 11 and 12 illustrate relatively shorter and taller cuffs respectively. The notches in the cuff are a length similar to or the same as the width of the cuff—one-quarter to four inches. The notches are spaced apart around the regular head open perimeter one-five inches or two-three inches. As shown in the drawings, the cuff can be about one inch in width. Visually, the cuff forms a “turtle neck” look around the head cutout of the gown.

While the isolation gowns described herein are often used as disposable, single-use gowns, they may alternatively be reused. Depending on the standard size of a neck hole and the size of a user's head and the care with which the gown is removed, the neck hole can be relatively easily torn. This can render the gown unusable after the single use. To help solve this issue, a slit may be cut into the web (as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4). Neck ties, shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 are heat-welded or otherwise attached or adhered to each side of this access slit to enable a user to tie and untie the gown around their neck. This way, a neck hole is better preserved for reuse. The neck ties are cut out of the die anywhere, but shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 adjacent the waist tie strips. The neck ties can be easily removed and installed as neck ties during the manufacturing process.

The integral tie strips are formed by die cuts on each side of the gown. Integral waist tie strips are part of many existing gown constructions. Existing tie strips are usually straight up and down and create sharp angles such as perpendicular (90 degrees) with the tethered/uncut end of the strip. These sharp angles may result in unintended tears in the strips so that a user will not be able to tie off the gown around their waist without failure especially if used multiple times. As shown in all four of the drawings, the present gown has die cut curves at the tethered, uncut end of the strips. Each tethered end has a top end cut and a bottom end cut. The bottom end cut moves from essentially vertical along the gown skirt until at its top near the waist of the gown, the cut turns toward the middle of the gown in a curved J-pattern. This curve allows the “pull” direction of the tie to be generally parallel versus perpendicular during use. The top end cut defines the outside of the gown skirt. At the top end, the cut curves in toward the waist and then curves back outwardly to form the under-arm of the gown. This section of the tie strap does not have any sharp right angles or tighter angles that might form a stress point for tearing of the tie strap when pulled in use. In FIGS. 1 and 2 the J-curve cut ends at the end of a slit. In use, this end point may serve as a beginning of a tear if the straps are pulled too hard. To help reduce this tearing problem, in FIGS. 3 and 4, the J-curve cut ends at a one-quarter inch hole punch. This means that the end of the J-curve cut does not end at a single point, but rather at the circle, which is much stronger against a tear initiation. This circle can be anywhere from one-sixteenth of an inch up to an inch or one-eighth of an inch to one-half of an inch.

Turning now to the drawings, FIG. 5 as noted earlier is a perspective view of a person wearing a prior art isolation gown 120. It is readily apparent that the head hole cutout perimeter 122 leaves a considerable exposure of the neck 124 and thorax of the wearer of the gown 120. In FIG. 6 however, a person is wearing an isolation gown 130 as described herein. This gown 130 has a head hole cutout perimeter 132 that defines a flap 134 to better cover the neck 136 and thorax of this wearer. Gowns similar to gown 130 will now be discussed in more detail.

FIG. 1 is a top view of an isolation gown cutout 10 of web material that would be used to form an isolation gown. The cutout 10 has a shoulder portion 12, arm portions 14 and a front apron portion 20. The arm portions 14 have edges 16 that are folded onto one another as shown by the arrows 17 and adhered or heat welded or otherwise attached as described earlier herein. The arms 14 have a thumb hole 18 on their ends for a user to place their thumbs in to keep the arms extended and safely covering the arms of a user.

The isolation gown cutout 10 also has a skirt portion 22 and waist portion 24 that is an indent in the cutout in approximately the middle of the isolation gown. The sides of the skirt 22 define straps 26 that are cut out of the web up to the waist 24. These straps 26 are used to tie the gown 10 around a user. The top ends of the straps 26 adjacent the waist 24 include a j-curve cut which is an improved connection with the gown 10 to improve tear resistance when a user pulls on the straps to tie behind their back.

FIG. 1 also illustrates a head hole cutout 40. The head hole cutout 40 has a generally oval shape and further includes a flap 44. On the bottom of the head hole cutout 40 is shown a dotted line 42 which shows the hypothetical complete and uniform oval shape of a prior art head hole cutout, for instance. The head hole cutout 40 has a length 48 and width 46 as shown.

FIG. 2 illustrates an isolation gown cutout 50 of web material similar to the gown cutout 10 in FIG. 1. The gown cutout 50 includes a shoulder portion 52 with a generally oval head hole cutout 54. Inside the head hole cutout 54 is a cuff 56 with cuff notches 58. The cuff notches 58 are generally perpendicular to the head hole cutout 54. On the front or lower side as seen in FIG. 2, there is shown flap 59 which is similar in size and function as flap 44 in FIG. 1. The head hole cutout 54 has a length 62 and width 60. The remaining features of FIG. 2 are the same as shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 illustrates an isolation gown cutout 70 with a shoulder portion 72 and skirt portion 88. The arm portions and front apron portion (unnumbered) are the same as seen in FIGS. 1 and 2. The shoulder portion 72 includes an access slit 86 which allows a user to tie the gown around their neck rather than pull over their head. The access slit 86 is open to the back and connects to the open head hole cutout 74. In this example, the gown cutout 70 includes neck tie strips 92 found on the side of the waist ties 90 on the skirt portion 88. These neck ties 92 can be removed and attached on opposite sides of the access slit 86 to allow the user to tie a gown around their neck.

The head hole cutout 74 includes a flap 80 and a cuff 76. The cuff 76 includes cuff notches 78 generally perpendicular to the head hole cutout 74. In this example of FIG. 3, there are four cuff notches 78 shown. The head hole cutout 74 has a length 84 and width 82.

The skirt portion 88 of the gown 70 includes waist ties 90 cut into the sides of the skirt portion. The waist ties 90 terminate in the waist 89 of the gown 70. The top of the ties 90 define the sides of the curved waist 89. The bottom side of the ties 90 terminate with a J-curve cut 94 like in FIGS. 1 and 2. Additionally, however, a small hole 96 is the terminus of the J-curve 94. Terminating the J-curve 94 in a round hole 96 means that the waist ties 90 do not end in a sharp cut that can be the beginning of a tear that might result in pulling the strap from the waist 89 altogether. By terminating in the circular hole 96, the initial tear possibilities are reduced and the straps 90 will have greater durability. Reuse of the gown 70 is made more possible as the waist ties 90 can be retied and reused for longer as noted earlier herein.

FIG. 4 is similar to the gown 70 shown in FIG. 3. In FIG. 4, the gown 100 includes a shoulder portion 102. In this shoulder portion 102 of the gown 100 there is a head hole cutout 104 with a flap portion 106 which is the portion of the gown that extends inside a regular oval shape of the head hole 104 as delineated in broken lines 108. The head hole cutout 104 has a length 110 and width 112. As in FIG. 3, there is an access slit 114 cut through the shoulder portion 102 in the garment back of the head hole cutout 104. The unnumbered portions of the gown 100 are the same as shown in FIG. 3.

FIGS. 7-12 illustrate several alternative head hole cutouts with various flap shapes and cuff variations. In these examples, the head hole cutouts are generally oval in shape. It is equally possible that the head hole cutouts could be generally circular in shape as well. Also, the sizes of the cutouts may vary with the different sizes of gowns (i.e., male and female, small medium and large) that may be sized and sold. While FIG. 1-4 illustrate a curved upward shape of the flaps 44, 59, 80, and 106 respectively, the flap may have other shapes including semicircular, rectangular, asymmetric and otherwise, and moreover different sizes (length and width) as explained earlier herein.

FIG. 7 illustrates a head hole cutout 140 with a generally oval shape perimeter 142 that defines the hole 144 therein. Broken lines 150 illustrate the hypothetical regular oval shape of the perimeter 142. A flap 148 has a generally trapezoidal shape outline 146 that extends into the space of the head hole 144. Furthermore, the head hole perimeter 142 has a length 152 and width 154.

FIG. 8 illustrates a head hole cutout 160 with a generally oval shape perimeter 162 that defines the hole 164 therein. Broken lines 170 illustrate the hypothetical regular oval shape of the perimeter 162. A flap 168 has a generally short rectangular shape outline 166 that extends into the space of the head hole 164. Furthermore, the head hole perimeter 162 has a length 172 and width 174.

FIG. 9 illustrates a head hole cutout 180 with a generally oval shape perimeter 182 that defines the hole 184 therein, Broken lines 190 illustrate the hypothetical regular oval shape of the perimeter 182. A flap 188 has a generally tall rectangular shape outline 186 that extends into the space of the head hole 184. As is subjectively evident, the tall flap 188 in this FIG. 9 is larger (taller) than the flap 168 in FIG. 8. The sizes of the flaps in all of the figures may vary in size as described earlier herein. Furthermore, the head hole perimeter 182 has a length 192 and width 194.

FIG. 10 illustrates a head hole cutout 200 with a generally oval shape perimeter 202 that defines the hole 204 therein. Broken lines 210 illustrate the hypothetical regular oval shape of the perimeter 202. A flap 208 has a generally triangular shape outline 206 that extends into the space of the head hole 204. Furthermore, the head hole perimeter 202 has a length 212 and width 214.

FIG. 11 illustrates a head hole cutout 220 with a generally oval shape perimeter 222 that defines the hole 224 therein. Broken lines 230 illustrate the hypothetical regular oval shape of the perimeter 222. A flap 228 has a generally oval or partially semicircular shape outline 226 that extends into the space of the head hole 224. Furthermore, the head hole perimeter 222 has a length 232 and width 234. There is additionally shown a cuff 242 and cuff notches 244. Subjectively seen in FIG. 11, the cuff 242 extends a short way into the head hole cutout 224. Also, four cuff notches 244 are shown. More or fewer notches 244 may be used.

FIG. 12 illustrates a head hole cutout 250 with a generally oval shape perimeter 252 that defines the hole 254 therein. Broken lines 260 illustrate the hypothetical regular oval shape of the perimeter 252. A flap 258 has a generally oval or partially semicircular shape outline 256 that extends into the space of the head hole 254. Furthermore, the head hole perimeter 252 has a length 262 and width 264. There is additionally shown a cuff 272 and cuff notches 274. Subjectively seen as compared with the cuffs 242 in FIG. 11, the cuff 272 of FIG. 12 extends a farther or more tall way into the head hole cutout 254. Also, four cuff notches 274 are shown as in FIG. 11. More or fewer notches 274 may be used.

Other embodiments of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification. It is intended that the specification and figures be considered as exemplary only. 

That which is claimed is:
 1. An isolation gown comprising a web of fabric material that includes arm portions, a front apron portion and a head hole cutout; wherein the head hole cutout has a generally circular or oval perimeter shape, and the head hole cutout further includes an integral flap that extends inwardly of a hypothetical uniform circular or oval shape as defined by the head hole cutout perimeter other than the flap.
 2. An isolation gown as described in claim 1, wherein the shape of the flap is curved.
 3. An isolation gown as described in claim 1, wherein the shape of the flap is semicircular.
 4. An isolation gown as described in claim 1, wherein the shape of the flap is rectangular.
 5. An isolation gown as described in claim 1, wherein the shape of the flap is asymmetric.
 6. An isolation gown as described in claim 1, wherein the area size of the flap is from 5-80% of the otherwise open circular or oval shape of the head hole cutout.
 7. An isolation gown as described in claim 1, wherein the area size of the flap is from 10-50% of the otherwise open circular or oval shape of the head hole cutout.
 8. An isolation gown as described in claim 1, wherein the area size of the flap is from 20-40% of the otherwise open circular or oval shape of the head hole cutout.
 9. An isolation gown as described in claim 1, wherein the flap extends into an open area of the neck hole cutout from one-half to five inches from the hypothetical uniform circular or oval shape of the head hole cutout.
 10. An isolation gown comprising a web of fabric material that includes arm portions, a front apron portion and a head hole cutout; wherein the head hole cutout has a generally circular or oval perimeter shape, and a hypothetical uniform circular or oval shape as defined by the head hole cutout perimeter, wherein the head hole cutout has an integral cuff around at least a portion of an inside perimeter of a hypothetical head hole cutout having a circular or oval shape, wherein the cuff is a supplemental fringe of web material that has a plurality of notches at spaces around the head hole cutout perimeter and that are approximately perpendicular to the perimeter.
 11. An isolation gown as described in claim 10, wherein the cuff is one-quarter to four inches in width inside the perimeter of the hypothetical head hole cutout.
 12. An isolation gown as described in claim 10, wherein the hypothetical head hole cutout has a maximum length of twelve inches and width of ten inches.
 13. An isolation gown as described in claim 10, wherein the hypothetical head hole cutout has a maximum length of ten inches and width of five inches.
 14. An isolation gown as described in claim 10, wherein the notches are spaced apart around the perimeter of the head hole cutout perimeter every one to five inches.
 15. An isolation gown as described in claim 10, wherein the head hole cutout further includes an integral flap that extends inwardly of the hypothetical uniform circular or oval shape as defined by the head hole cutout perimeter other than the flap. 